Literary Magic
by DramaDork21
Summary: Kelsi always liked reading. It was her escape from the rest of the world. But things don't always quite work out that way. Ryelsi. Dedicated to DramaticStarlet.


_So, this is the product of my brain at 10:30 at night, when I'm SUPPOSED to be going to bed, but I can't sleep. So what do I do? I pull out my Harry Potter book and open it to a random page and start reading. Makes no sense, I know. But it's what I do. And somehow, that leads me to writing a Ryelsi. Go figure._

_Dedicated to: Katie! Also known as DramaticStarlet- you should definitely check out her stories, they are flat out fantastic. Dedicated to her for said awesome stories and for the fact that she has all her views right (Jelsi? We laugh in the face of Jelsi!)_

_Disclaimer: My parents are so mean; they wouldn't even get me the rights to High School Musical OR Harry Potter for my birthday! Oh well, there's always Christmas… But until then, not mine._

_Oh, and this contains spoilers for the 6th Harry Potter book… but the 7th one comes out in a week, so I'm not too worried here._

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No one ever noticed Kelsi's absence these days, despite the close group of friends she now had. But that was fine for her- it was really as it should be, in her eyes. They had their priorities, and hey didn't involve her. Nor did hers involve them, as she slipped away to her silent music room. Once safely inside, the pressures of the day lifted. From there on out, it was just her, the instruments, and her book.

For she was a dreamer, and she was never so happy as when she was lost in a world so unlike her own. She devoured them like one might snatch up a delectable morsel. Yet she always returned to her favorites in the end, where she could spend hours, if presented with them, living someone else's life. There was no feeling quite like it in the world; that she was certain of.

Today, the book of choice could not really be called an old favorite, for it was fairly recently written. Yet the connection to these characters stretched farther back than that, to a time in her past that now seemed far detached. She was curled up in a corner, the book propped open upon her knees as tears streamed down her face. It was not alarming; she had known when she opened the book that they would come. Knowledge did not change the pain she felt as she relived the death, the scene playing clearly in her mind. She saw the flash of green light, felt the stillness of the air, heard the silence, and watched as he tumbled backwards out of sight. This was why she loved the books. For, good or bad, it was as though the words never stayed bound to the page, but leapt into her imagination and materialized as a picture, more vivid and clear than a dream.

Her body shaking with her silent sobs, Kelsi cleared her vision of a few tears, scanning the words she had read over and over, with the same attentiveness she had used the first time she had read it. They never grew old, never became too familiar that she wouldn't want to read them anymore. She even paused to chuckle a bit at herself, wiping away the tears that still fell fast from her eyes. They would not stop until she finished for the day, whether that meant finishing the book (a task she was easily capable of doing by the end of the period) or putting it away (a task far more daunting, she felt). She returned her attention to the page, still attempting to read through the waves of tears that continued to plague her.

She'd read only a few pages when she felt a presence over her. She jumped and looked up- often times she got so absorbed in her books that she didn't notice anything outside them. She smiled a bit sheepishly at being caught, brushing more of the endless tears from her eyes. Her visitor looked down at her, a mix of concern and wonder showing on his face as he squatted down.

"You're crying," Ryan stated, reaching out to brush a few stray tears from her face. Kelsi shivered at the contact and blushed a bit- caught in the act.

"Yeah, it's kind of an emotional part of the book. One of the big characters just died, and-" Ryan cut her off as he positioned himself so that he was sitting next to her.

"Dumbledore," he supplied helpfully, earning a slightly surprised look from Kelsi. From what she knew of him, he never really seemed to be a big reader- not for fun, anyways. And besides, she would have pegged him more as a non-fiction person, not a fantasy reader. Though why it was so hard to believe this of the actor was a question she couldn't answer.

At any rate, he seemed to have caught her inquisitive look, for he chuckled lightly. "Sharpay always had the books laying around," Ryan answered her unspoken question with a grin, "and one day I picked the first book up, wondering what it was about these books that could possibly be so great. And… I got hooked." Kelsi nodded- she knew how that went. She was relieved, too, that he hadn't seemed offended by her look. But she should have expected that of him, she thought, because that was just the kind of person he was. Those thoughts were quickly swept from her mind, however, as she was filled with a curiosity about his view on the sixth book.

"So, it's pretty clear what I think about this part," she said with a laugh, as the last of the tears dried on her cheeks. Ryan just grinned, waiting for her to go on. "But what did you think? And not just about Dumbledore's death," she added quickly, before Ryan could say anything. "I mean the whole ending."

Ryan gave her an amused look, and she wondered briefly if that was being too bold. That was, she did, until he spoke up a moment later. "That's a pretty wide range of things. It'd help if you narrowed it down to a few topics."

That seemed fair, so she proceeded to do so. "Well, there's the death, obviously. And then there's the fight with Snape, and the scene in the hospital wing, and in McGonagall's office, and the funeral, and Harry and Ginny's breakup," she spat, before Ryan stopped her there,

"I take it you didn't like that?" Kelsi scoffed and crossed her arms.

"Not at all! He's being an idiot. Dumbledore's said all along that love is the most powerful type of magic there is, and yet he's alienating her! I mean, even McGonagall said that Dumbledore would be happy knowing there was a little more love in the world," she said angrily, needing to get her point across, "so what's he playing at, breaking up with her at his funeral?"

Ryan waited a moment before responding. "True, but he was doing it because he loved her." He didn't get any farther than that before Kelsi cut him off.

"I hate that excuse! If he really loved her, then he should have seen that she wasn't scared, that she would rather be by his side through it all, and not broken up with her!" She felt Ryan touch her arm lightly, probably in an effort to calm her down. The effect was instantaneous; she immediately mellowed out and listened to what he had to say.

"Kelsi. I agree with you- I do. I'm just saying that I can see where he's coming from. But personally, I think he was an idiot for breaking up with such a great girl." From the way he was looking at her, however, she was suddenly unable to tell if Ryan were still talking about Harry breaking up with Ginny, or rather Jason breaking up with her a few months ago. They had both agreed that things weren't working, though, and managed to stay friends. She forced the thought from her mind, however; he was clearly talking about Harry and Ginny. There was no reason to suspect otherwise. She was just reading too much into an otherwise innocent glance- wasn't she?

Before she had much time to ponder that, however, she noticed a look in Ryan's eyes that was decidedly not innocent, but rather mischievous. He grinned and grabbed her hand, pulling her to her feet as he stood up. The contact took her off guard, and she stumbled backwards as her position suddenly changed. Once he was sure she was steady on her feet, Ryan grinned and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Let's roleplay it out," he said excitedly, as Kelsi tried to grasp what he meant. "You know, act it out the way we thought it should have gone."

She was intrigued, she had to admit, and so she nodded. "Okay. Should I get the book, then, so we can use the dialogue until we think something should be changed, or-" Ryan cut her off, still grinning.

"We'll ad lib it," he said, dismissing the book with the wave of a hand. She nodded once again, a gesture she was very clearly capable of, as he got into character.

"Ginny, we need to talk. He sounded deathly serious, and she had to fight not to laugh.

"Yes Harry," she replied, putting a slight playful tone on the name, "what is it?"

His tone and expression didn't change. "It's about us- about our relationship together. We can't do this anymore." His enthusiasm for the part was catching, and she felt herself being pulled into the character.

"I thought you might say that," she said softly, looking down at the ground.

"I just- it's not safe for you, Ginny. I don't want you to get hurt." He sounded as though he truly meant it, as though she meant the world to him, and she felt Ginny's stubbornness come to the surface.

"But what if I don't care? What if I'm not afraid?"

"I'm afraid," he confessed, looking her in the eye. "I care. I'm afraid of losing you. I couldn't let that happen." They had officially deviated from the book, and yet Kelsi was not at a loss for words. She knew exactly what she wanted to say.

"Then let me help you, Harry. Let me be there for you. Don't push me away." She was acutely aware that the distance between them was lessening.

"You won't give up, will you?" They were only a few inches apart now, and their eyes were locked.

"No," she whispered, knowing it was true. Ginny would never leave him, no matter what he said.

"Then who am I to try and stop you?" he murmured, and suddenly he was leaning down towards her, and she was stretching up to meet him, and he was cupping her face in his hands as their lips met in a sweet kiss.

Yet what might have been just a short kiss stretched on, as neither of them felt any desire to break the embrace. And Kelsi knew, even as it happened, that somewhere in that first moment they had changed from being Harry and Ginny to simply being themselves, Ryan and Kelsi. But that was ok, she knew, by the way it felt so right to be there, safe in his arms.

After what seemed like ages, they broke apart, watching each other carefully. Kelsi smiled after a moment, and so did Ryan, as they intertwined their hands. In their own way, they had taken that step from being friends to being something more, and while others might have found it odd, Kelsi thought it was perfect.

And as Ryan leaned in for another kiss, she had just enough time to reflect that she had found another feeling, one that couldn't be found in a book. She smiled as his lips met hers again. Really, that was ok.

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_So, there you have it. My second time ever Ryelsi fic (and yet it got posted before my first one. How bizarre..). I'm fairly happy with it!_


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